As most of you know, this year daylight-saving time is coming three weeks earlier than usual, starting on Sunday, March 11 at 2 a.m., and ending a week later on Sunday, November 4. The new change is part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, and aims to reduce energy consumption (this also affects Canada and Mexico). But who would have thought a few extra weeks of daylight would send the tech world into a tizzy? Yet, there's legitimate reason for concern, as a number of consumer electronics devices can be affected by the time change, including smart phones and PDAs. Since these devices have clock and calendar functions, if you don't take the proper precautions and update your smart phone (and the computer that you synchronize it with), your appointments and e-mail time stamps will be off by an hour. To avoid any snafus, here are some steps you should take:

• Download the software update for your operating systems. Microsoft Windows Mobile, Palm, RIM/BlackBerry, and Symbian have all issued patches for their devices. If you have a company-issued smart phone, your IT department may issue an automatic over-the-air update. Otherwise, you can go to your respective developer's site and follow the provided instructions for a manual installation.
• If you synchronize your device with the desktop software on your PC or Mac, be sure to install any DST updates to your computer.
• Make sure you have the correct time zone selected on your smart phone.
• Pay extra attention to meetings and appointments scheduled between March 11, 2007 and April 1, 2007 and between October 28, 2007 and November 4, 2007, as these are the four weeks impacted by the DST change.

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